In honor of the Campanile’s 100th birthday next spring, the topic for this year’s Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Essay Prize contest is carillon ringing.

Brevity is the soul of the contest; entries are limited to 500 words. All UC Berkeley students, faculty and staff are invited to enter.

Essays must be handed in by the deadline, Monday, Dec. 1. And they must be submitted in person to 210A Sproul Hall.

American social writer Eric Hoffer, author of “The True Believer” (1951) among other books, endowed the contest in 1970. Known as the longshoreman philosopher, Hoffer valued brevity. His 1977 note about the prize, posted on the prize website, reads: “Wordiness is a sickness of American writing. Too many words dilute and blur ideas.” Many of Hoffer’s papers were bequeathed to Lili Fabilli Osborne, a family friend.

More information about the contest, including links to winning essays from the last five years, is posted on the prize website.